New Mexico has a bitter gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel came to an agreement with two big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.